They offered a hopeful glimpse by beating Rutgers in an exhibition, since Rutgers is a Top 25 team that, by season’s end, might well be taking aim at the top 15.
Those are the actual reasons to have hope.
Here is another:
At every one of Pitino’s previous five college stops, the team took gigantic steps forward in Year 2. Every single time, BU to Providence, Kentucky to Louisville to Iona. And in almost every case, Year 2 set the tone for what would be the entirety of the Pitino tenures there.